Species profile—Cyperus cephalotes
Classification
Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Cyperaceae → Cyperus cephalotes
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Sighting data
Species details
- Kingdom
- Plantae (plants)
- Class
- Equisetopsida (land plants)
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- Scientific name
- Cyperus cephalotes Vahl
- WildNet taxon ID
- 9852
- Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) status
- Endangered
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) status
- Endangered
- Conservation significant
- Yes
- Confidential
- No
- Wetland status
- Wetland Indicator Species
- Endemicity
- Native
- Pest status
- Nil
- Description
- Cyperus cephalotes is an aquatic sedge that forms floating mats. Its long stolons form a tangled mass in the surface vegetation. The stems are solitary, triangular with rounded edges. It grows to 50 cm tall. It has a few leaves up to 1.5 mm wide which are less than half the height of the plant, they are flattened for most of their length, gradually narrowing into the sharply 3-angled tips which are rough to touch. The sheaths at the base of the leaves are cinnamoneous to reddish.
The flowering head is ovoid or conical, 5 to 15 mm wide. It is made up of numerous spikelets that are pale brown to rusty red. Just below the flowering head there are 3 to 5 bracts, the bases of which are purplish striate. The nut has 3 corky wings that form yellowish ridges projecting up the angles of the nut. These enable dispersal by water. (Wilson 2008). - Map
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- Distribution
- Cyperus cephalotes has been collected from waterways near Ingham in north-eastern Queensland. It is also found in New Guinea. (Queensland Herbarium 2012).
- Distributional limits
- -18.4984537, 146.1990277
-18.7388056, 146.5011011 - Range derivation
- Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records
- Habitat
- Cyperus cephalotes grows in aquatic habitats. It has been recorded growing in wetlands with Salvinia sp. (Queensland Herbarium 2012).
- Threatening processes
- Cyperus cephalotes is potentially threatened by habitat invasion from alien weed species such as Brachiaria mutica (para grass), Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) and other ponded pasture grasses (e.g. Hymenachne).
- Notes
- Contributors: Ron Booth, Mellisa Mayhew 17/06/2009
- References
- Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) (2008). Cyperus cephalotes in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Accessed 19/11/2008. http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/sprat.pl.
Queensland Herbarium (2012). Specimen label information. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 19/01/2012.
Wilson, K.L. (2008). Genus Cyperus, in PlantNet: New South Wales Flora Online. National Herbarium of New South Wales. Accessed 19/11/2008. http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/. - Profile author
- Ronald Booth (29/06/2012)
Other resources
- Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT)
- The Australasian Virtual Herbarium (AVH)
- Atlas of Living Australia
Data source
This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=9852.
This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
